Reflection for 10th
July 2016
Click on
Scripture Lessons below for study links and resources:
Let me tell you about the dark side….
According to Yoda, fear is a path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate and
hate leads to suffering.
This is almost the opposite of what was read in the New Testament
from 2 Peter 1:5-6 “For this very reason,
make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to
knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to
perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly
kindness, love.….” However… There is a dark side to the readings that were
read this last weekend.
The first reading was from Amos. It begins with a message from God about
applying a plumb line and the meaning was that God was aware of the evil in
Israel and was about to carry out justice.
Why mention it and why not just carry it out?
We often think that the image of God in the Old Testament
was about judgement and wrath, but this is certainly not the case. God’s prophets suffered because of God’s
patience and mercy with the people that they served. God spoke through his prophets so as to give
the people every possible chance to do the right thing. The reason for this announcement of judgement
was in the hope that the king and his people would repent and change their ways. But this is not the dark side to which I
refer….
In the New Testament Gospel reading we had the story of the
Good Samaritan, where a man was travelling and fell into the hands of
thieves. He was beaten and left for
dead…. That that is not the dark side to which I refer either….
In the reading from Amos, the priest, Amaziah, heard the
message from Amos and told him to go back to the land of Judah and earn his
keep as a prophet there. This was
inferring that he was from a line of prophets and it was almost a career
choice. I look at some of those in
ministry and sometimes you can see that the kind of person that they are suits
the profession and the fit and model work and you know that it is a logical
choice that could easily be confirmed by others…… but this was not the case
with Amos and he was firm and sure in his reply to the priest. His chosen profession was nothing like that which
was described by Amaziah, but instead God had called him to speak his word, and
he answered the call.
This begs a few questions, one of which would be; why didn’t
God choose to give his message to the priest or someone more “fitting” that
profession? And secondly, what message
and warning is there for us today?
Today we have people who fit very well into ministry and we
listen to them. But what would happen if
there was a message from someone who didn’t seem to fit the model?
Now let me tell you about the dark side:
Amaziah was the priest who heard the message and was in
direct contact with the prophet. He had
access to the law of God and knowledge.
But he did not support Amos, instead he went and complained about him to
the king.
Amos was betrayed by the very person who should have had his
back.
In the New Testament and the famous story about the Good
Samaritan, there were a number of people who passed by the man who was left for
dead on the side of the road. There was
a priest who passed by and also a Levite.
A Levite was the family from which the priests came. In other words, these were the people who
were supposed to be God’s people. These
were the keepers of God’s law.
Now this bit gets tricky because technically the priest and
the Levite would have been deemed ceremonially unclean and not able to fulfill
their “Godly” duties if they were to touch the man who was beaten/ possibly
dead. So, in their eyes, they were
keeping God’s law by staying away from the “unclean” situation.
So much can be said about this aspect and the relationship
to our modern life, because there are many Christians who think they need to
keep separate from the things of the world lest they become contaminated and
influenced by it…. And they will quote scripture to justify themselves. Are they justified? Who is right? Who is doing God’s will?
Ironically, the story of the Good Samaritan was told in
answer to the question about keeping the law of God. It must have presented a real dilemma to the
listeners. We read it and miss a lot of
the meaning and certainly miss how it relates today. We sit in our churches and strive to do what
is right, but how do we interact with others in need who are right near
us? We give money to missions overseas
but miss the person in the supermarket that we talk to everyday who may have a
greater need…. Maybe not for money, but for friendship or support in some
way….
The dark side of these stories is the betrayal. The way these people were ostracized by those
who were meant to be the advocates for God is the pain and dark side of the
reading …. And ironically those who were thinking that they were keeping the
law most purely, were on the path to the dark side…. They acted out of fear…
fear leading to anger, anger leading to hate and hate leading to suffering.
Beware the path to the dark side….. it is filled with good
intentions and may even seem justified with scripture. To know that you are on the path of God is to
understand that LOVE needs to increase.
Love is what God is all about and the key phrase we should always be
asking ourselves is; what is it that is the most life-giving and loving
response in each situation?
